Medical images are images used in disease detection. Disease screening is an important preventive health care component. Some disease may be detected in medical images before other symptoms present. Some disease may be more effectively treated or even cured if detected early enough. Disease may be detected by a radiologist based on analysis of tissue features in medical images. A radiologist is a medical doctor specially trained to detect disease in medical images. The radiologist may study tissue features in medical images captured during a medical imaging procedure.
Radiologist detection of disease may be supplemented with CAD (Computer-aided Detection). CAD algorithms may detect disease in medical images based on analysis of tissue features in the images. CAD may analyze medical images to determine a Degree of Abnormality or a Probability of Malignancy based on anomaly detection, feature detection, and image processing techniques. Effective diagnosis and screening may require thorough imaging coverage and adequate image quality. A radiologist or CAD may be presented with only a specific subset of images selected from the many potential images generated from an imaging procedure.
The images presented to a radiologist or analyzed by CAD may be known as key frames. The key frames may be selected based on specific view orientations or tissue features needed for thorough analysis or screening. Selection of the key frames requires a high degree of medical imaging skill and knowledge of tissue features. A radiologist may be required to perform the imaging procedure and select the key frames to ensure adequate imaging for effective screening. Using a highly-trained radiologist to perform an imaging procedure and select the key frames adds cost to an already expensive health care system. Screening effectiveness may be reduced if key frames selected by un-aided non-radiologist imaging system operators are presented to the radiologist or CAD.